The Food Matters Project: No-Knead Pizza (Mostly Whole Wheat)

Pizza is something that I take seriously. Really seriously. Like having mini-frozen-pizzas-from-New-Jersey-shipped-to-me-on-dry-ice-serious. Not kidding.

I’m now 3000 miles from away from said favorite spot, living in the Pacific Northwest for over a year and a half. And can you believe I have yet to find pizza even remotely comparable (any recommendations?)?

When I saw that this week’s Food Matters Project challenge was “No-Work Mostly Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (page 533)”, selected by our host, Niki from Salt & Pepper, to say I was excited would be an understatement! No work pizza dough that is mostly whole wheat? Really? So intriguing and exciting!

This is coming from someone whose house-building dreams include something like this –

Surprisingly, I guess, I had yet to dive into making yeast dough. Throw me in the kitchen with no recipe and a handful of ingredients and I’ll cook something marvelous, but flour, yeast and water? Scary!

My hope going into this challenge was to create a mostly whole wheat pizza dough that was simple to make, freeze and baked up into a thin, crispy and delicious crust.

I am happy to report that this is a great everyday mostly whole wheat dough. It is not however a thin, crispy dough, but it’s still really delicious and super easy!

The big news is that I am no longer scared of yeast dough, and if you are, you don’t need to be either!

I think it is safe to say that you will see some simple, everyday bread recipes happening over here in the near future, so stay tuned. Especially if my husband (hint) buys me this book for part of (notice the “part of…”) my Mother’s Day present next month. 😉

Ok, now let’s talk toppings. I attempted to top this pizza dough as close to a Trenton Style Tomato Pie as I could. What the hell is a “Trenton Style Tomato Pie”? Right? Read this to find out. I couldn’t say it any better. If you are wondering which pizza place is worth flying their Pies across the country, it’s Delorenzo’s Tomato Pies in Trenton, New Jersey.

Scroll down on this page and read about why-this-pizza-is-so-frickin-unbelievable-I-want-to-buy-a-plane-ticket-right-now-amazing-good. Or click here for their website. Better yet, if you live in NY, PA or NJ or maybe even Delaware, head there now – but don’t you dare post of picture of yourself eating it on my Facebook Wall or I might have to ban you out of sheer jealousy!

Still want more Pizza? Click here to see what all of the other Food Matters Project members did with their dough! I have a feeling this week will be pretty interesting.

Whenever I am making a dish where tomatoes are the star of the show, I try to get fresh, ripe, local, organic tomatoes. If that isn’t possible (like now), my go to is San Marzano Tomatoes. If you aren’t familiar with them, read this.

When it comes to pizza, don’t use part-skim cheese! Just use less. The taste difference is huge!! I started with a block of mozzarella (not buffalo or fresh mozzarella-just regular) and used a grater to quickly shred it by hand. It took less than a minute and is totally worth it. I divided up the remaining cheese into 2 and 3 ounce cubes and froze them for future pizzas.

You may need more than 1.5 cups of water. If so, add additional water by the tablespoon as just a tiny bit makes a huge difference with the dough.

In a large glass bowl mix flours, salt and yeast. Slowly add in water, staring with 1.5 cups until dough is relatively sticky and wet. If the dough is on the dry side, add more water (I used 1.75 cups which was a bit too much. I think the sweet spot is probably 1.5 cups + 1 to 2 tablespoons).

Scrape down sides of bowl, cover with saran wrap, and place bowl in a warm spot. Let dough sit for 8 hours or up to 12 hours. The longer fermentation, the more complex the flavor is (I let mine sit for 8 hours).

When rise is done, dust your hands with a little bit of all purpose flour and fold the dough over in the bowl a couple of times. Don't use too much flour and use a gentle touch with the dough.

Grab one half of the dough and gently stretch using your fingers. Be careful not to tear holes in the dough. Place onto baking sheet and continue stretching until desired thickness achieved. This is what size mine looks like.

Pour an additional 1/2 tablespoon olive oil on top of dough and spread with pastry brush.

Using 3 ounces of grated cheese, sprinkle about 2 ounces and set aside 1 ounce.

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Hi Alyssa, Today I participated in an online chat with Mark Bittman. Someone in the chat posted this recipe for thin crust and I thought you might find it interesting.
http://www.pizzamaking.com/thincrust.php

Alyssa, the first time I made my dough, I added too much water because I was kind of misguided by Bittman saying the dough should be relatively sticky and wet. So this time, I made my dough on the not-so-sticky-and-wet side and it was way better than the first time. It cooked perfectly and wasn't underdone.

A person near and dear to my own heart. Nothing beats "Trenton Pies" and I am so lucky to still be living in the area to get some. There are a few other places around the county to get a great pie and I have learned to make my own too. Wish I could get my own pizza oven and I would be in heaven. I will have to try putting down the olive oil on the dough first. Looks awesome!! What helps Trenton Pies to be the best is the cheese goes down first then the tomato ... most do it the other way. Love love love the blog.

San Marzano tomatoes are the best. They are pricey but worth it. I didn't know about them until I got some Ina Garten cookbooks and she's all about them, so I gave 'em a try and love 'em! I only use them for special occassions though because my pockets feel the cost. LOL!

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